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Beloved family dog ‘lucky to be alive’ after vets removed 117 hair ties from his stomach

A distraught family has issued a warning about the dangers of hair ties after its much-loved pooch was nearly killed when eating 117 of them.

Adorable little Charlie is lucky to be alive after horrified vets pulled out 117 hair ties weighing almost 1kg from his tiny stomach last year.

The two-year-old petite Goldendoodle went for life-saving surgery in April 2018 after suddenly becoming seriously ill.

The little pooch’s owner, Jenee Clayton (40) from Texas, US, said that in the months leading up to the emergency surgery, there have been a couple of rare occasions where Charlie had made ‘purging’ noises and experienced a bout of diarrhoea.

A few months later, the dog – who Jenee said is like her fourth child – suddenly became ill and began vomiting, refused to eat and was constipated.

Charlie was then rushed to the Westridge Animal Hospital where their vet, Dr Randall Murray, performed a physical exam and said there was tenderness in his abdomen.

An x-ray revealed that there was an unidentified mass in Charlie’s stomach that was causing the blockage. When vets performed emergency surgery, they were shocked at what they found.

The dog’s tiny stomach was filled to the brim with 117 hair ties, along with a few candy wrappers, a teddy bear’s ear and material from two pairs of underwear.

“The vet said Charlie was very lucky. If we didn’t take him to the vet, he would be dead,” Jenee said.

Her husband Jamie (42), were shocked that Charlie could consume so many ponytail holders, she said.

The mom added that she and her two daughters Marcie (14) and Paige (8) use hair ties daily and never worried if they went missing.

“We had no idea we had that many hair ties, or that they were even missing.

“There are three girls in our house with long hair who use ponytail holders daily. I just thought they got broken or lost.

“Hair ties are like pennies. They’re not valuable and if you lose them, so what? You can go out and get some more.

“You don’t notice when they go missing, it is just one of those things. We never saw Charlie with them in his mouth.

“We never in a million years thought he was eating them.

“We didn’t leave them laying all over the floor. We were not irresponsible, and we didn’t neglect our dog.

“It was over a two-year time period so there was no way we could have noticed,” she said.

Jenee said they’ve become extra vigilant about leaving anything in reach of where Charlie could eat it – and now always leave their hair ties on high shelves

Thankfully, adorable little Charlie is back to his normal energetic and happy self.

“He is a total sweetheart and very loving dog. We are just so grateful that he is still here,” Jenee said.